To+Kill+A+Mockingbird

=To Kill A Mockingbird=

This page contains resources related to our study of Harper Lee's novel //To Kill A Mockingbird.//

[ Assignments and Projects ]

 * Anticipation activity
 * Part One: Complete the [[file:mritsmith/TKAM Anticipation Guide.doc|TKAM Anticipation Guide]] and upload it to Engrade.
 * Part Two: Choose one statement from the Anticipation Guide that you feel most strongly about and/or have a personal connection to, then write a paragraph explaining your feelings or personal connection in detail. Post your paragraph on Collaborize Classroom.
 * Part Three: Write two meaningful, detailed replies (3-5 sentences each) to two classmates' Collaborize posts.
 * Complete bookmarks for each assigned section of the reading.
 * [[file:mritsmith/character chart.doc|Character chart]]
 * [[file:mritsmith/TKAM reading questions.doc|Reading questions]] -- These are not required, but you may find them helpful in guiding your reading and checking your understanding.
 * A Walk in Someone Else's Shoes
 * TKAM essay assignment

[ Need-to-Knows ]
After completing the anticipation guide and background readings, as well as viewing the photo galleries and "judging the book by its cover," here are the questions we developed:
 * Who is Harper Lee? Why did she write this book? Why does she consider it to be a "love story"?
 * What is the meaning of the title?
 * Where and when is the story set?
 * Who is the protagonist?
 * What events lead to and cause the protagonist's coming of age?
 * What is the purpose/significance of the setting -- a "sleepy southern town"?
 * What is the significance of the mockingbird itself? Will it be killed? How does it relate to the problem of inequality? What does it have to do with coming of age?
 * What is the significance of the items in the tree -- the string and watch?
 * What is the significance of the moon on the cover?
 * Why is this novel considered a classic? Why is it so well-known?
 * What does this book have to say about "growing up and...human dignity"?
 * Is it natural to want to treat other humans with respect, or is that a learned skill?
 * What can we learn from this novel? Why read it?
 * What morals/themes/universal truths/"big ideas" does this novel address?
 * How does this novel relate/connect to other things we've read?
 * What does this novel have to do with our class (and with World Dynamics)?

[ Supplemental Resources ]

 * Background readings:
 * "The Depression in the United States: An Overview"
 * "What Was Jim Crow?"
 * Photos:
 * "Captured: America in Color from 1939-1943"
 * "Photographs of Signs Enforcing Racial Discrimination"
 * Analyze these photos using the Library of Congress primary source analysis tool
 * On the "N-Word"
 * "Nigger and Caricatures"
 * "The N-Word: Past Meaning and Contemporary Questions"
 * On the Trayvon Martin case
 * "Killing of Fla. Teen Trayvon Martin Becomes National Story About Race" (NPR news blog post)
 * "The death of Trayvon Martin" (Virginian-Pilot editorial)
 * NPR's "Two-Way" blog archive of stories related to the Trayvon Martin case

Image source: []